Cutter Assembly
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Set up Printheads
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Carriage Belt
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The Cutter Assembly is designed to trim the leading edge of a roll of paper when loaded, and then again after every print. The Carriage Assembly engages it by travelling to the left hand side of the printer and pulling the arm out on the cutter. This lowers the rotary blade which allows the carriage to travel to the right and trim the paper. The Cutter can become blunt and although it forms part of the Carriage, it can be replaced separately. The Cutter becomes blunt over time with use and quickly blunts if the wrong type of media (such as thick canvas) is put through a machine not designed/compatible with such heavy media weights.
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In some models a Purge Tubes function needs to be carried out, when fitting new Tube Assemblies. This allows the tubes to be primed and the air removed and replaced with ink. In order to carry out this function, a set of setup printheads will be required. These Printheads are not regular printheads and cannot be used instead of regular printheads, which are different. In order to prime the tubes, the status of your ink cartridges must not be showing as Low or Very Low - so a new set of inks need to be purchased if this is the case. These are also known as Start up Print heads.
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The carriage belt is attached to the underside of the carriage assembly and is driven by the Y axis motor on one side and connected to pulley at the other. This is the most common part to wear on a Designjet. Belts differ from one machine to the next e.g. some belts are made up of two rubber strips that are connected together by metal fasteners. Notably, they are made ofblack rubber and have groove patterns (vertical grooves to assist the motor to pull, and horizontal grooves to assist the pulley). The belt must be placed with care in the correct orientation.
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Service Station
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Carriage Assembly
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Power Supply Unit
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The Service Station has a number of functions. Primarily it caps the printheads to prevent them drying out in between printing. It also uses wipers to remove excess ink or dirt build up on the bottom of the printheads, and with some models has a spittoon attached as a way of disposing of the excess ink. Over time it will fill up with ink and will need replacing. The Drop Detect Sensor is connected to the Service Station (this monitors and tests the state of the Printheads).
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The Carriage Assembly (also known as the Pen Carriage) holds the printheads. The printheads are fed ink from the ink cartridges via the Ink Tubes Assembly and are responsible for releasing the ink onto the paper through a series of small nozzles. The cutter is attached to the Carriage Assembly to trim the media. The Trailing Cable is also connected to the Carriage Assembly which in turn is connected to the Electronics module.
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The Power Supply Unit (also known as the PSU) connects to the electronics module or main board and is located in the rear electronics panel of the Printer. It converts the mains electricity to voltages used on the Electronics Module. The PSU includes the power switch and a failure typically presents as the printer having no power or where the printer will start up but will be in a continual start up loop cycle.
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Drive Roller Encoder Sensor
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Drop Detect Sensor
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Y Axis Motor
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The Drive Roller Encoder Sensor reads the Encoder Disk that is attached to the media roller. The Encoder Disk passes through the sensor and the fine lines around the outer edge of the disk are read, so that the printer knows how far to rotate the media roller.
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The Drop Detect Sensor is part of the Serivce Station and it is responsible for testing and monitoring the state of the Printheads. It does this by dropping small amounts of ink through the sensor in order to sense if the Printhead is working properly.
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The Y Axis motor (also known as the Scan Axis motor) is used to drive the Carriage assembly. It does this by having its cogs move the carriage belt, which itself is attached to the underside of the carriage assembly via a pulley.
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Media/Paper Sensor
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Ink Supply Station
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Encoder Strip
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The media sensor is located underneath the platen assembly. It has a small flag that sits in the sensor at one end (in turn the sensor has a cable that runs to the interconnect PC board) while the other end goes through the platen to where the media is fed through. When the media is fed through it moves the flag out of the sensor - and this part can get broken easily.
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In the Printer, the Ink Cartridges reside inside the Ink Supply Station (ISS). The ISS is the part of the Printer that provides the pressure to pump the ink from the Ink Cartridges to the Printheads. There are slots in the ISS for each ink cartridge, with each cartridge colour having its own place. The Ink Tubes Assembly then connects into the bottom of the ISS to connect up with the Ink Cartridges.
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The Encoder Strip is a thin metal strip that runs along the width of the printer and has a number of fine vertical lines printed on it which allows the carriage to assess its current position. The carriage assembly counts these lines so it knows exactly where it is on the scan axis. It can usually be seen when you open the top cover.
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Ink Tubes Assembly
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X Axis Motor
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Front Panel
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The Ink Tubes Assembly (also known as RIDS) is assisted by an Air Pressure System (APS) which pumps ink from the Ink Cartridges (which are located in the ISS) through the Ink Tubes Assembly and down to the Printheads (which are located in the Carriage Assembly). The printheads then place the ink onto the paper through small nozzles.
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The X Axis Motor (also known as the Paper Motor or Media Motor) is located underneath the platen. It rotates the media roller assembly, so that the paper or media is in the correct position. It knows how far to turn because of the driver roller encoder.
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The Front Panel controls the function of the printer and can show ink levels, status of printheads, print settings, paper loaded, calibration tools, print previews. It also warns of any issues or problems, and displays error codes or messages. Some front panels are LCD, the oldest printers offer a system of lights.
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Trailing Cable
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Memory Card
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Clutch Assembly
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The Trailing Cable has two ribbon cables; one which connects to the carriage assembly while the other connects to the electronics module. Failure to replace the trailing cable properly may result in blowing the main electronics board.
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The Memory Card processes jobs and most printers allow for additional memory to be installed, in order to speed up various print processes. Some printers will require a GL2 card in order to install additional memory.
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The Clutch Assembly is engaged by the Carriage pressing against a lever to engage it. The Clutch then engages the Lower Over Drive Rollers to move the media backwards in order to find the leading edge of the paper.
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Jet Direct Card
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Spindle
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Star Wheel Assembly
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The Jet Direct Card allows the printer to be networked so that a number of users can print to it.
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The spindle is what the roll of paper slots onto. It has end caps either side and usually the end caps only get broken with users who drop the roll of paper onto the spindle rather than "placing" it on.
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The Star Wheel Assembly attaches to the Bail Arm which runs across the length of the print output area. The Star Wheels assist with controlling the paper.
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Interconnect PCA Board
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Electronics Module
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The interconnect PCA Board sits on top of the Service Station holder on some models, and connects to the electronics module. Typically it controls the Service Station, Ink Supply Station, Pinch Lever Sensor and Front Panel.
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Also known as the main logic board, this is the brains of the HP Designjet and/or main logic centre which controls and manages data input and resulting print output. This is one of the most expensive components and is the part which often gets damaged if there is a power surge.
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